If You Give a Mom a Martini...: 100 Ways to Find 10 Blissful Minutes for Yourself - Hardcover

If brushing your teeth provides the only moment of the day when you’re truly alone and at peace, then this book is for you. Sure, you love your kids, but your pre-mom self—the one who savored a glass of wine after work and exercised on her lunch break instead of shopping for baby food—had its perks, too.

The “time-outs” in this book are for moms who love their kids but also long for a few minutes when they’ve got nowhere to be, no one to listen to, and no diapers to change. The authors have compiled 100 imaginative ways they and their friends—including such celebrities as Kelly Ripa and Jill Hennessy—spend their time when they have 10 luscious minutes to themselves. The suggestions for using your moments alone to the max run the gamut from sweet to satiric—treat yourself to a single, beautiful flower for your bedside table or play kickball with your son and punt the ball really, really far. Try surreptitiously rearranging your Netflix queue so your movies arrive before your husband’s and kids’ do. Browse for bling at Harry Winston. Or leave the kids to shop with your husband and slip into Brookstone for a rest in one of their giant massage chairs.

Every good mom deserves a break. This book is a start—to chuckle over with your friends or really use when you need a precious respite.

Lyss Stern is the mother of two young boys and the creator of Divalysscious moms (www.divalyssciousmoms.com), New York City’s premier luxury lifestyle company for fabulous moms and tots, with more than 23,000 active members.

Julie Klappas is the mother of two and has spent her career working in television, producing programming and promotions for clients including Lifetime, VH1, and Nickelodeon.